Before we head into this absolutely delicious recipe, I would like to introduce our new monthly guest blogger: Guillaume! While he is a work colleague of mine, he's worked in restaurants for many years. So, I'm sure he'll bring some great insight into the art of cooking! :) One of his recipes will be featured every second wednesday of every month. So make sure to check in! Welcome Guillaume!

This is one
of my simple “go-to” dish I do very often as it requires very little
preparation and it is enjoyed by all of my friends. If you wish to save a bit
of time during the preparation, you can easily replace the tomato sauce by sun-dried
tomato pesto or regular pesto. This dish incorporates many elements of a Greek
salad with the feta bringing all components of the dish together with its
saltiness and creaminess. The richness of the roasted pine nuts accentuates the
texture of the quinoa. The use of quinoa instead of pasta keeps the dish light
and fresh.

Preparation:

25 to 30
minutes

Ingredients:

Chicken

2 chicken
breasts (diced)

1 Lemon or
lime

1 teaspoon
of cinnamon

Quinoa

½ cup of
quinoa

½ cup of
stock (chicken or vegetable)

½ cup of
water

Tomato
Sauce

2 Tomatoes

1/3 cup of
finely chopped white onion

1 finely
chopped garlic clove

1 teaspoon
of oregano

¼ cup of
pine nuts

Vegetables

¼ cup of
finely chopped red pepper

¼ cup of
finely chopped green pepper

¼ cup of
finely chopped cucumber

¼ cup of
finely chopped red onion

¼ cup of
feta (crumbled)

Method:

Place
the chicken breasts in a plastic bag and add the juice from one lemon or lime.
Add the cinnamon and bit of salt and pepper to taste. (the cinnamon can be
replaced by oregano, thyme, cumin, or any other combination of spices you may
enjoy). Vacuum seal the bag and place in the refrigerator while cutting the
vegetables.

In
a saucepan, boil water and blanche the tomatoes for five minutes. Remove the
skin and dice the tomatoes. Keep some of the liquid used to blanche the
tomatoes in a cup.

In
another saucepan, bring to boil ½ cup of water and ½ cup of stock. Incorporate
the quinoa and cook on medium heat, stirring intermittently, until all the
liquid has evaporated. Let the quinoa cool for 5 minutes.

In
the saucepan used to blanche the tomatoes, combine a bit of oil and add the
finely chopped white onions and garlic. Add the diced tomatoes, the oregano,
and some salt and pepper to taste. Let the onions, garlic and tomatoes reduce
at medium heat stirring once in while. As the tomatoes, onions and garlic
reduce, add some of the liquid used to blanche the tomatoes as needed to help
build the sauce base. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

Lightly
roast the pine nuts in a pan. In a blender, incorporate the tomato sauce and
half of the roasted pine nuts. Blend until the texture of the sauce is nice and
smooth. Let the sauce sit for 5 minutes.

Cook
the chicken in a pan or on the barbecue. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes
before dicing it.

In
a bowl, combine the quinoa and tomato sauce, the rest of the pine nuts, the
vegetables, the feta and the chicken.